Earthquake haunts Syrians who already seem to have been forgotten for 12 years
On February 6, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkey and northern Syria. The number of victims reached more than 51,000 dead and tens of thousands injured. As a Syrian refugee in Brussels, I closely follow the news of my relatives and friends residing in Turkey and northern Syria.
By Nour Sweid
I know that there is no possibility for me to go there as I am in the middle of getting my refugee status in Belgium. It is hard to deal with these emotions while I am far away from them when the news of friends who passed away reaches me here. I feel terrible grief and oppression at the same time, whenever I look at news or a photo of a another lifeless body that is recovered from the debris. I search through the lists of names and photos of the dead, perhaps to find someone I know.
There still is hardly any material help in Syria. During the critical days and hours during which there were still chances of saving people alive from under the debris, there was no assistance. Some rescue teams were there but the material they needed to remove debris and save people from underneath it was lacking. These materials were not allowed in via the areas under the control of Bashar Al-Assad and it was also not allowed in via Turkey as it kept its borders closed. The people from Syria who have been suffering for twelve years already, are now again hit the hardest.
Aid to northern Syria is hindered from all sides
Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, the country has been divided into several spheres of influence. Dictator Al-Assad’s regime is based in the southern Syrian capital of Damascus, while the opposition factions, backed by the Turkish military forces, control the north of the country.
This administrative division made the arrival of aid much more difficult, as Al-Assad — who heads one of the most corrupt governments in the world, transfers relief aid to his own account, where the majority of the people in his areas of control live below the poverty line, while his net worth is estimated at about two billion dollars, according to the US State Department — is at the forefront of the United Nations as a legitimate representative, and there is no official legitimate body in the regions of northern Syria.
On February 9, me and a group of Syrian activists organised a sit-in demonstration in front of the Parliament building in Brussels in order to shed light on the Syrian tragedy under the weight of the recent earthquake. We wanted to share our grief as many of us who are here in Belgium lost our family members who were still there
Turkey controls the border crossings in northern Syria, and despite all the pressures on it, the Turkish government hinders the movement of imports and export and even the access of aid at critical times!
The situation in northern Syria is complex. Multiple factions and different ideologies control the northern border cities with Turkey. What they have in common is that they all receive orders from the Turkish government. Turkey prevents the import of goods from Syria, but it allows the export of some goods only from Turkey to northern Syria under difficult conditions. The deliverance of UN aid is also hindered by the absence of a legitimate representative to the United Nations in northern Syria. Russia, as one of the powerful member states and an ally of Al-Assad, pressures the UN to solely send aid via the Assad regime. To deliver supplies to northern Syria, there must be international pressure.
Sit-in protest in Brussels
On February 9, me and a group of Syrian activists organised a sit-in demonstration in front of the Parliament building in Brussels in order to shed light on the Syrian tragedy under the weight of the recent earthquake. We wanted to share our grief as many of us who are here in Belgium lost our family members who were still there.
With the sit-in we wanted to request the EU governments to act now, in any way they can, but most importantly put pressure on the Turkish governments to allow aid to northern Syria to be shipped via Turkey as no clear decisions about that have been taken yet within the European Parliament. Another urgent request we want to make to the EU governments put pressure on the government of Turkey to open all the border crossings with northern Syria to allow aid in, as now aid is allowed in only selectively and only through a few crossings if at all.
Then, what about the Syrians in Turkey? We know that they have been subjected to horrific racial discrimination there for years. Today, the Turkish government is discriminating again among the earthquake victims, by being very selective in their aid
One of the Syrian organizers of the sit-in, D. Diaa El-Dein Dahrouj, gave a speech in which he again explained the urgency for politicians to act: “We have a lot of material assistance such as blankets, clothes, and food. The storage spaces in Belgium have become full, but it is important now that we focus on the question of whether these materials will be allowed to be shipped to Turkey and from there to Syria. It is the fourth day of the earthquake and it may be too late to bring in drilling equipment. And excavating the rubble, but what about people who already survived? As I mentioned, we were in a meeting with parliamentarians and government agencies today and yesterday in Belgium and we focused on the issue of allowing the delivery of aid. Our passion to help should not be temporary, we are creating a lot of pressure and we will continue. That’s why they recently allowed European teams to go to the earthquake zones to help. The pressure is working, but we need to keep going! We need to work together as well with trusted organisations”
Diaa says that he met with parliamentarian Latifa Aït-Baala, Prime Minister of Brussels Elio Di Rupo, and also the Minister of Social Affairs in Belgium on the day before the sit-in. Sadly their answers were that there is no clear and unified position from Belgium or the European Union about coordinating with Turkey for the access of aid or the conduct of air or land convoys to support the Syrians in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Ironically, the place where we organised a sit-in was a few meters from the safety zone of the European Summit that was being held in the buildings of the Council of the European Union at the same time. From the sit-in, we could see the cars of the EU-leaders passing who were assembling for the summit.
Syria has been forgotten
Furthermore, the organizers and participants of the sit-in made painfully clear that Syria has been long forgotten, also by our politicians here in Belgium. The earthquake and the fact that hardly any help has been send, has made countless new, unnecessary victims. As another activist put it in her speech at the sit-in: “They have failed us for twelve years since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, there were no real actions! We have lost hope in them”
Then, what about the Syrians in Turkey? We know that they have been subjected to horrific racial discrimination there for years. Today, the Turkish government is discriminating again among the earthquake victims, by being very selective in their aid. In addition to hindering the delivery of aid to northern Syria, it also does not pay attention to the thousands of Syrians living in the affected areas in southern Turkey.
Another organizer of the protest mentioned in his speech: “Our aim as Syrians abroad is to help the Syrian victims at home, just as Turkish friends do here in Europe. What hinders us is that the borders are closed to us. Anything you want to send, requires papers, documents and very difficult transactions to pass to Syria. The crisis has only just begun. We are late for sending equipment to remove the rubble, but there still are many orphans and homeless people who lost their homes in the earthquakes, many wounded and disabled people who need immediate surgeries and care!”
The storage magazines here are full of collected material assistance, but it has to pass through northern Syria with logistical support from the EU. Otherwise, reaching the victims will be almost impossible. Secondly, the EU should put pressure on ‘Erdogan’ to open the borders because we have to make sure that help reaches the victims of Syria the same way as the victims in Turkey. As long as rescue teams are not sent in the same way to northern Syria, the help of the EU governments to Turkey appears to me more as a political, performative act. Opening permanent official crossings to northern Syria, will also facilitate the delivery of aid, and allow direct donations to charitable organisations that support Syrians in northern Syria and southern Turkey, such as the Molham organization and the White Helmets.
This is just the beginning of another massive crisis on top of the one that was already there.
Nour Sweid witnessed the beginning of the Syrian war and took refuge with his family from Syria to Istanbul in 2016. He crossed the Mediterranean Sea and came to Belgium in 2022: “I know what it means to be a victim of violence, war, and migration… What it means to be an outcast, and therefore I make the stories of war victims and asylum my main issues! I always aim to shed light on the suffering of people in vulnerable circumstances and those whose voices are not heard. Having received a cinematic education, I dream of making my own film.”
